


Parable of the Blueberry Cupcake

by Marchetta



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:06:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22626040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marchetta/pseuds/Marchetta
Summary: One of the ways the encounter with Isharnai is retold in the distant future by followers of the Traveller.(It says parable but I'm not going to go back to my catholic highschool days to make this formatted like a traditional parable.)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 49





	Parable of the Blueberry Cupcake

There once was a witch that haunted the valley. For many centuries, this witch lured in lost and broken travellers into its lair and promised to give them anything they wished for. In return, the witch demanded a sacrifice, for this foul creature feasted upon pain and misery.

One day, the Jester found the witch; the great prophet, the first follower of the Traveller.

The Jester had met a young mother suffering from a terrible curse. Upon seeing this tragedy, the Jester vowed to seek out the witch and have the curse lifted, so that the young mother could be reunited with her child.

When the Jester found the witch, she greeted it with a smile on her face. She did not challenge the witch to a fight or a puzzle, and she gave it no hostility. No, the Jester spoke kindly, and offered a tender hand of friendship toward the witch, but alas, it remained firm against her charm. The witch told the Jester that it would only lift the curse if she offered up new misery to sate her beastly appetite. And so, unable to change the witch’s mind, the Jester began to negotiate a sacrifice.

Between the two, many pains were passed over the table. To tear someone away from all the people they loved. The destroy all the memories of one’s truest love. To start a war that would last a thousand years. The Jester, however, refused to make a sacrifice on another’s behalf; the misery made would be her own.

The price to pay was the Jester’s hands.

The hands she worshipped with. The hands that connected her, the prophet, to the god that chose her. The hands she used to heal, to fight against evil, to protect the vulnerable.

A miserable fate, indeed. 

Agreement made, the Jester made one last request of the witch. She reasoned that, without her hands, she would no longer be able to feed herself, and requested to eat one last thing by herself. The witch indulged the request, and the Jester pulled out a Blueberry Cupcake.

The Jester broke the Cupcake in two. Between her tears and cracking voice, she asked if the witch had ever tasted Blueberry Cupcake, and offered to it one half. The witch knew that making its victims comfortable before the final deal was important, lest their fear grows too strong and they back out from the deal; seeing clearly the pain and fear already shining in the Jester’s eyes, it reached out and accepted the offering. They ate in silence.

The witch normally consumed only raw meats, and was surprised by the tastiness of the pastry. Unbeknownst to the foul beast, the Jester had come prepared. 

Before walking into the home of such a dangerous creature, the Jester had coated the Blueberry Cupcake in a rare enchanted item, the Dust of Deliciousness: an enchanted powder that makes any food so mouthwateringly delicious, it leaves the mind vulnerable to trickery.

In the witch’s arrogance, it had thought itself too wise to be duped. To the very last bite, the Jester maintained her face of fear and sadness, and cast a powerful spell given to her by the Traveller.

Modify Memory. 

The Jester weaved and intricate lie in the witch’s mind. Misery loves company, and in centuries of isolation, the witch had been so deprived of such a need. The company of the Jester had been enjoyed so keenly that it agreed this was payment enough for lifting the curse. So fooled by the spell, the witch thanked the Jester for her company as she left.

The young mother was reunited with her child and the witch’s reputation waned. The misery it cause petered out until it slowly starved to death. Upon the ruin of the witch’s homes, the Traveller himself shaped the stone into a statue of the Jester, offering a Blueberry Cupcake to the sky.

**Author's Note:**

> I like to think that a holiday is adopted to celebrate this tale and its traditional to eat blueberry cupcakes. As the Traveller becomes a more popular deity, it becomes very common for people to go on journeys with a supply of pastries, especially blueberry ones, for god luck and to earn the Traveller's favour


End file.
